Healing The Haunted: Rituals Of Mourning And Suture, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Healing The Haunted: Rituals Of Mourning And Suture, Pian Zhang
Masters Theses
Healing the Haunted probes into the capacity of healing towards land trauma. It defines land trauma as a reflexive process that is rooted in the perspective of topophilia—the affective bond with one's environment. Human extractive activities that cause physical ecological violence have led to trauma on the land, which can result in a disconnection between people and their environment, leaving negative effects on the mind and body over the long term. The tangible or hidden wounds lead to an unsettling encounter with the ghost, turning topophilia into topophobia.
To calm the haunting apparition, this thesis suggests healing man-land bond …
The Root Of Culture: Human Ritual And The Soils Of West Virginia, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
The Root Of Culture: Human Ritual And The Soils Of West Virginia, Aleece Mount
Masters Theses
The Cumberland Mountains of Southern West Virginia are home to mountaintop removal, with the Guyandotte River watershed exhibiting some of the most extreme examples. The strip-mining practices have removed fertile soil, altered water courses, deeply polluted the land, and stripped people of their wealth – prosperity in happiness and abundance of possessions and resources. This has resulted in some of the nation’s worst health, education, and economic conditions. The communities of this watershed live at the heart of the economic and political forces that undermine community and ecological well-being.
Southern West Virginia has a deep and continued history of living …
Arctic Resilience: Adaptive Networks Of Self-Sufficiency, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Arctic Resilience: Adaptive Networks Of Self-Sufficiency, Jingjing Cui
Masters Theses
As the impacts of climate change reverberate across the globe, there is an increasing focus on communities already grappling with high environmental stress, limited resources, isolation, and economic challenges. Among these communities, the Arctic region stands out not for its population size, but for the threat posed to their traditional ways of life by the melting polar icecap, rising seas, changing ecology, and shifting migration patterns of vital wildlife. Many communities are living on shorelines being lost to the sea, having been moved there decades earlier by government and oil corporation dictates. Now facing impending relocation again, these communities have …
Landscape De/Re-Construction Through Art, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Landscape De/Re-Construction Through Art, Manuel Gonzalez
Masters Theses
Contemporary landscape architecture practice and education primarily focus on ecological and technical interventions. The climate crisis we find ourselves in demands scientifically informed decisions and well-engineered execution of projects, but, more importantly, creativity and innovation.
The fine arts, which were once integral and foundational to design, are today largely unappreciated and appropriated. The spiritual power of Art, Aesthetics, and Beauty, explored at length through art history and theory, are often viewed as indulgent or secondary to execution. The gap between Art & Design has widened. As a result, designers face challenges in fostering in individuals the kind of care and …
Blowing Away, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Blowing Away, Ziyi Zhao
Masters Theses
Nature has always been playing one of the positive protagonists in the architecture field. Despite the disparate milieux and the cognitions discrepancy of nature in different eras, people keep exploring the interrelationships of nature, architecture, and h. In this case, “natural air” as an extensive component of nature, is an integration of sustainability foundation, architectural system enquiry, technological methods intervention, and research of human perception. In the process of exploring how to rebuild the “connectedness” between nature and humans in the architectural context, researching the human-sensible means that architecture interacts with the natural air and will be a primary “natural-representative” …
Reintroducing Hemp (Rongony) In The Material Palette Of Madagascar: A Study On The Potential Of Hemp Clay Components And Its Impact On Social And Ecological Communities., 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Reintroducing Hemp (Rongony) In The Material Palette Of Madagascar: A Study On The Potential Of Hemp Clay Components And Its Impact On Social And Ecological Communities., Henintsoa Thierry Andrianambinina
Masters Theses
When mentioning the word hemp, especially in the local language of Madagascar, the literal translation does not set it apart from marijuana, as they are both called “rongony” - creating the stigma around hemp as the negative stereotype of marijuana. However, the material has been used by the ancestors of Madagascar, as well as across cultures, in its fibrous form to produce fabrication like textile goods and packaging. During colonization, the prohibition of hemp intensified, and since then, any activity related to either of these plants is prohibited and will end in severe punitive measures. This thesis explores the strengths …
Making Pla(Y)Ces: Softening The City Through Play, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Making Pla(Y)Ces: Softening The City Through Play, Shivani Pinapotu
Masters Theses
Cities that grow naturally over time integrate spaces of gathering that allow for serendipitous happenstance. However, the cities we design today instruct and codify through intentional planning and design; they assign use, hardening specific function to place. Such strategies lead to spaces devoid of spirit, inculcating in city-dwellers to a sense of disconnect from the city.
In contrast to this, the places we make as children, express our intuitive, direct, and unselfconscious relationships with space and one other. These spaces embody softness through their malleability and adaptability, borrowing from the world around them and imbuing the ordinary with imagination. …
Glowing Under The Bridge—A Healing Space For Wounded Souls, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Glowing Under The Bridge—A Healing Space For Wounded Souls, Ruier Zhao
Masters Theses
The suicide rate among Chinese adolescents is significantly higher than the world average, with academic stress and family relationships being the major causes. This thesis focuses on building a place for Chinese students from upper elementary school to high school, where they can regulate their psychology, relax, and ideally reduce the rate of impulsive suicides.
In Chongqing, the percentage of students who attempt or commit suicide is close to 25%. The proposed site for this place of rest is under the bridge of one of Chongqing’s most crowded monorail stations, which is a semi-abandoned park with a beautiful view of …
Interactive Architecture - Intervention Of Virtual Business On Commercial Space, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Interactive Architecture - Intervention Of Virtual Business On Commercial Space, Yihao George Xu
Masters Theses
Traditional mall-based restaurants, such as P.F. Chang’s in the Providence Place Mall, have primarily focused on site-based dining and bar services. However, the food provided by this chain restaurant often lacks depth, and customers seldom learn the story behind the dishes. This thesis explores the integration of mixed reality technology within the physical environment of P.F. Chang’s, an American Chinese restaurant chain with over 300 locations, aiming to transform it into an authentic Shanghai food culture experience. This experience combines virtual and physical stimuli to evoke various periods of Chinese history, providing a unique encounter for customers.
The proposed transformation …
Postindustrial Playbook++, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Postindustrial Playbook++, Maxwell Fertik
Masters Theses
There is no such thing as an undisrupted ecosystem. Every inch of the planet is impacted by industrial development and its chemical legacy has mutated the soil and water. As a response, this thesis is designed to promote abundant over extractive resources and visualize a post-industrial reality. It consists of a series of objects, writing and design research on the relationship of industry and ecosystem.
In many ways it is a playbook++, laying out possible strategies or “plays’’ for making do with what exists around us amid collapse.
Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica)(ي'ڑ*), a plant that grows in the most degraded …
Sensible Nature: To “See” As We Once Did, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Sensible Nature: To “See” As We Once Did, Yuhan Su
Masters Theses
This thesis starts with the premise that our growing dependence on tools and digital technologies has led to a gradual decline in our sensory acuity, causing a disconnect between people and nature.
To address this issue, the thesis aims to re-establish lost connections by utilizing plant-based sensorial designs that evoke emotions and instincts, reigniting empathy and intimacy with the natural world.
By utilizing these strategies, this thesis seeks to enhance our ability to perceive, connect with, and appreciate the world around us, thereby creating a stronger, more intimate relationship between humanity and the environment.
Public-Ish, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Public-Ish, Aliah Werth
Masters Theses
Climate change affects public space, and architecture must establish tenets that prioritize pedestrians in this difficult era. Greywater re-use can be a mechanism for creating shade, and in turn, public space.
As heat waves grow more intense, the vast swaths of asphalt that connect commercial zones pose greater risks to public health and to urban vitality. This thesis records the typical material, spatial, and lived conditions of strip malls in urban heat islands, and demands more from infrastructure in public-ish space.
Heat violence weaves through Los Angeles’ built form. Parking space minimums, required setbacks, and height restrictions pull buildings away …
Decolonial Perspective On Fashion And Sustainability, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Decolonial Perspective On Fashion And Sustainability, Haisum Basharat
Masters Theses
The fashion industry has long been criticized for its exploitative practices, cultural appropriation, and detrimental impact on the environment. To address these challenges, there is a growing need to adopt a decolonial approach that acknowledges the historical injustices perpetuated by colonial systems and centers the voices, practices, and traditions of marginalized communities. This abstract presents a model that integrates decolonial principles into the fashion industry while incorporating traditional textile practices to promote local autonomy, cultural sustainability, and mitigate climate change.
City As Cemetery, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
City As Cemetery, Siqiao Zhao
Masters Theses
The traditional funeral service industry has enormous environmental and financial costs. In contrast, green burial, and Natural Organic Reduction (NOR), accelerate the human body’s degradation and reduce toxic substances in the land, assuming responsibility for our burden on the earth. They provide a gateway between us and the processes of nature and ask us to set aside self-consciousness to accept our oneness with the universe. By gifting our bodies back to the earth, where decomposition enriches soils and nurtures the growth of other life forms, we honor those who have transitioned to another state by continuing the cycle of renewal. …
Appropriate That Bridge: Appropriation As A Way Of Intervention, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Appropriate That Bridge: Appropriation As A Way Of Intervention, Haochen Meng
Masters Theses
Appropriation is an action of intervention in many fields, including legislation, culture and design. To appropriate something (or someplace) means to violate its original ownership and claim it, which in most cases is illegal. However, appropriation doesn’t have to be an illegal act: it can be permitted by the authority and become a “reuse” of an object or space. For example, street dining is often authorized by city governments, so they indicate a transition of the ownership of the street from the vehicles and pedestrians to the restaurants and diners. In architectural terms, appropriating a space (or structure) mostly equals …
Urban Succession: An Ecocentric Urbanism, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Urban Succession: An Ecocentric Urbanism, Anthony Kershaw
Masters Theses
Through the development of canals and parks along with the denigration of the unmaintained, humans have worked to curate a natural environment designed by and for themselves. These urban typologies have defined boundaries, suppressed resources, and fragmented habitats. This thesis will work in opposition to current notions of the canal, park, and unmaintained to develop a new model for multi-species green infrastructure that embraces succession and views maintenance as a facilitation of natural processes rather than preservation of a singular condition.
The green infrastructure in question will more specifically be referred to as an ecological corridor: an ecocentric habitat connecting …
Liquid Border, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia
Masters Theses
A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.
Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …
Water Relations, Understanding Our Relationship To Water: Through Research, Diagrams, And Glass, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
Water Relations, Understanding Our Relationship To Water: Through Research, Diagrams, And Glass, Tian Li
Masters Theses
As I observe the different ways human civilization interacts with water, I reflect on how I have interacted with it personally, in Califronia and Hawai’i. I also learn about the largest water-controlling infrastructure in China and its effects on the land and people. In Providence, I notice the infrastructure around the canal that keeps the water in. This relationship to water is unique to a post-colonial world where water is a commodity in which we spectate. What relationships did people have with water before we polluted the waters and created all this concrete infrastructure around it?
Through listening to Lorén …
On The Edge Of The "Er-Ocean" State, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
On The Edge Of The "Er-Ocean" State, Mariesa Travers
Masters Theses
This thesis will explore how hard coastal infrastructure methods can be redesigned by softening the coastal edge to support the ecosystem and enhance public access to the beach. By referencing and arguing against techniques used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as a solution to deal with coastal erosion, this process will propose a regenerated design system. Through a series of material experiments, this research works with natural processes and flows, to create transitory systems that erode and ebb with the coast.
[De]Composition: Grounding Architecture, 2023 Rhode Island School of Design
[De]Composition: Grounding Architecture, Skylar Perez
Masters Theses
This thesis forages through a multitude of entangled scales that utilizes geologic time, water bodies, farming systems and fungal networks to reorient how we as humans herald the vital connecting force that is SOIL.
Reimagining how approaches to soil care could alter visions of innovation and land management in the arid region of Llano Estacado (Lubbock, TX).
The research embraces soil a place full of life and microbial activity that systematically contributes to local ecosystems and planetary health.
How do we build soil?